By reading the Voltie blog, you can navigate these questions more easily. Here you will find overviews of charging options, new technologies, choosing a wall charger, or even how to calculate charging costs. In this article, we will look at what prices you can expect if you charge your car at home or in public, and what factors affect the total amount.

How much does it cost to charge an electric car from a home network?

If you can charge at home, you will gain a noticeable advantage. The unit price of electricity is typically much lower than at public charging stations, as the household electricity tariff applies here. Currently, in Hungary, the discounted, utility-reduced price is around 39 HUF per kilowatt-hour. 

In cases where someone exceeds the consumption limit, they will have to pay the market tariff for electricity, which is around 70 HUF. Thus, fully charging an average 60 kWh battery at home could cost between 2160 and 4200 HUF, depending on the electricity tariff the user is on.

Charging at a public station – convenient, but more expensive

The pricing of public chargers varies by provider, charging type, and time slot. At some AC chargers, you can charge at a price of 109-139 HUF/kWh, and they often charge a minute fee if you leave your car. Fast chargers, especially DC stations, already work at prices of 179-219 HUF/kWh, and for the fastest 150 kW chargers, they may ask for even more.

Thus, the full charge of the aforementioned battery could even be 10,000-15,000 HUF, which, as can be seen, is two to three times or even more than the home cost. It becomes clearer how much it costs to charge an electric car at home or at a public station. 

If you plan wisely and schedule home charging in time, you can minimize these extra expenses; however, on the road, during holidays, or on longer trips, it is unavoidable to account for these costs as well.